** In order to take this exam, you must have completed enrollment in the ABIM MOC program by this date.

SPRING 2015: May 4-8, 2015

Feb. 14, 2015

Dec. 1, 2014 and Feb. 28, 2015

FALL 2015: Nov. 16-20, 2015

Aug. 1, 2015

May 1, 2015 and Aug. 15, 2015

SPRING 2016: May 9-13, 2016

Feb. 15, 2016

Dec. 1, 2015 and Feb. 29, 2016

FALL 2016: Nov. 14-18, 2016

Aug. 1, 2016

May 1, 2016 and Aug. 15, 2016

IMPORTANT NOTES:

Deadline for cancellation is 11:59 p.m. ET two (2) days prior to scheduled examination date. (Example: For exams scheduled Friday, May 9, 2014, the cancellation deadline would be 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 7, 2014.)

It is the sole responsibility of the candidate to be aware of and comply with seat scheduling deadlines. In fairness to all candidates, ABIM adheres firmly to its published seat scheduling deadlines for its examinations. Candidates are encouraged to apply early in the seat scheduling period. See seat scheduling information.

What Does the Examination Cover?

Exam Administration

The exam lasts one day. Multiple editions, or "forms," of the exam are used, and they may differ in question order and content. Some questions require the interpretation of illustrative materials such as electrocardiograms, radiographs and photomicrographs (e.g., blood films, Gram stains, urine sediments).

Exam Development

A complete description of the process used to develop ABIM exams is available in How Exams Are Developed. Topics include:

Pretesting

Question content criteria

Question-writing process

Question review/editing process

Relevance review, and more

Question Format

The exam consists of single best answer questions only. This type of question consists of a brief statement, case history, graph, or picture followed by a question and list of possible options. You must choose the one answer that is better than the others; note that other options may be partially correct. Familiarizing yourself with the question format in advance may help you work more effectively.

Copyright and Examination Non-Disclosure Policy

All ABIM materials are protected by the federal Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 101, et seq. Access to all such materials, as further detailed below, is strictly conditioned upon agreement to abide by ABIM's rights under the Copyright Act and to maintain examination confidentiality.

ABIM examinations are confidential, in addition to being protected by federal copyright and trade secret laws. Candidates and diplomates who undertake examinations agree that they will not copy, reproduce, adapt, disclose, or transmit examinations, in whole or in part, before or after taking an examination, by any means now known or hereafter invented. They further agree that they will not reconstruct examination content from memory, by dictation, or by any other means or otherwise discuss examination content with others. Candidates and Diplomates further acknowledge that disclosure or any other use of ABIM examination content constitutes professional misconduct and may expose them to criminal as well as civil liability, and may also result in ABIM's imposition of penalties against them, including but not limited to, invalidation of examination results, exclusion from future examinations, suspension, revocation of certification and other sanctions.

With respect to ABIM's Maintenance of Certification (MOC) products, including its Medical Knowledge Modules and ABIM PIMs Practice Improvement Modules®, candidates agree that they will not copy, reproduce or make any adaptations of such materials in any manner; and will not assist someone else in the infringement or misuse of these or any other ABIM-copyrighted works.

* You will have 80 minutes of available break time to use during your examination. The amount of break time you use after each test session will be subtracted from the amount of available break time. For instance, if you take a 10 minute break after session one, the amount of break time remaining for the exam will be reduced to 70 minutes.

Lab Studies and Reference Ranges

Reference ranges for laboratory test reports are included in the text of ABIM exam questions, as well as a high/low indicator if a patient's test result falls outside the reference range. As is true in practice, interpretation of a particular patient's test result in relation to the reference range depends on the clinical context. For example, reference ranges for tests assessing lipid or glucose metabolism may not be applicable in certain clinical settings; ABIM reference ranges should not be confused with patient-specific targets for such tests.

Reporting format

Laboratory test results in examination questions are followed by their reference ranges, in brackets and italicized.

For example:

Serum albumin 4.0 [3.5–5.5 g/dL]

“H” or “L” will be shown if the patient's test result is higher or lower than the reference range.

For example:

Serum albumin 6.0 H [3.5–5.5 g/dL]

For laboratory tests in which the reference range varies according to patient characteristics such as gender or age, the range provided will be appropriate for the patient.

For example, for a 45-year-old man:

Hematocrit 39 L [42%–50%]

For a 45-year-old woman:

Hematocrit 39 [37%–47%]

Information on specific studies

The National Cancer Institute advises that there is no specific normal or abnormal level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood. Therefore, ABIM is reporting “no specific normal or abnormal level” in place of the reference range for PSA.

Scoring and Reporting of Exam Results

What's New in 2015

Starting with exams administered in Spring 2015, ABIM is now distributing exam results in a new, electronic format. This new Score Report was redesigned in collaboration with ABIM Board Certified physicians across various specialties. The result is an enhanced, user-friendly report that provides a detailed description of exam performance in a timely manner. To learn more about the features of the updated score report, visit the Transforming ABIM blog or watch this interactive video.

Scoring

The examination pass-fail decision is based on your performance on the entire examination. Unanswered questions are scored as incorrect; therefore, you should answer every question. The minimum passing score reflects an absolute standard that is independent of the performance of any group of candidates. This standard has been established by the examination committee and approved by the ABIM Board of Directors.

ABIM has a standard process for evaluating changes in medicine that occur too late in the test administration schedule to replace or modify any affected examination questions. We advise candidates to answer all questions according to their understanding of current clinical principles and practice. If ABIM determines that any question has been compromised by new information, that question will be reviewed to ensure that test-taker results are not adversely affected. This information appears in the instructions that candidates see before beginning any ABIM examination.

Results

After the exam is given, it will be analyzed and evaluated to ensure the reliability of individual results.

Your results will be released within three months of the last date of the exam in that area. When your results are released, you will receive an e-mail notification with instructions on how to access your Score Report in PDF format from your Physician Login. Starting in 2015, all score reports will be provided electronically within your Physician Login, not via postal mail.

Score reports will be available for two years from the date on which they were released. For exams taken in 2015 or later they will be available within your Physician Login. For exams taken prior to 2015, you may obtain a copy of your Score Report upon written request during that two-year period. Questions regarding exam results should be submitted in writing within six months of the date results were released.

At the end of the Certification cycle, physicians who pass the Maintenance of Certification Exam, have successfully completed the self-evaluation component, and whose credentials have been verified by ABIM are considered to be recertified. Physicians with a lapsed Certification are considered recertified upon successful completion of these three components. Your current status is reported on your Physician Login Home Page.

Rescore

ABIM's scoring process is meticulous and includes a rigorous set of quality control steps to verify the accuracy of results for every examinee. Additional information on how exams are scored may be found at How Exams Are Developed.

It is very unlikely that an error occurred in retrieving your answers from the computer or scoring your exam.

However, you may request a rescore for a fee of $250.

If you would like to have your examination rescored, please put your request in writing. All requests must be received within six months of the results' release date. Include your name, ABIM ID, the examination to be rescored, and a check for $250.00 payable to the American Board of Internal Medicine.